Project Descriptions
In Summer 2020, I interned at 42dot.ai – a Korean based company intrigued in seamless automation of transportation. Specifically, I worked with 42air.ai – a subsidiary company interested in entering the autonomous maritime drone delivery space.
During that Summer, I was tasked as a Mechanical/Software Engineering Intern to complete three primary projects:
- Incorporate the physics and visuals a winch/payload mechanism into the AirSim plug-in through an Unreal Engine simulation.
- Work on a team to design and manufacture the first prototype of a winch/payload mechanism
- Work with a third party physics engine and incorporate it into Unreal Engine
Winching in Simulation
Using Microsoft’s AirSim physics engine, I integrated the discrete ODE physics of a conical pendulum. I derived these equations by hand, taking into account essential aspects of flight such as drag, weight, and lowering/raising.
Diving into AirSim’s physics codebase, I made changes in order to ensure that users could easily set the payload weight, payload volume, rope length, and more in order to allow for fluid testing of different strategies of flight.
Winch Prototyping
This team project involved the prototyping of a drone/winch mechanism for initial testing. Alongside brainstorming ideas with my direct superiors for the mechanism, I was responsible for analyzing and choosing a suitable motor, designing new ideas in CAD, and documenting attempted ideas in CAD. One of the brainstormed design ideas is shown below in Fusion 360 CAD with the DJI Matrice 600 Pro.
Unfortunately, COVID-19 prevented much hands-on work with the drone. However, I was able to witness our creation first hand in Fall 2020. The below GIF is a video of a Summer’s hard work paying off!
